Fort Worth Councilman Joel Burns Announces His Resignation

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Fort Worth City Council member Joel Burns at a White House-sponsored event in 2012.

Updated at 9:56 AM CDT on Wednesday, Feb 12, 2014

Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns made a big announcement during Tuesday evening's City Council meeting -- that he's resigning and heading to Harvard.

Burns made the announcement from his seat during a tearful address to the City Council, in which he said he'd be giving up his District 9 seat to attend the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Burns has addressed HKS several times since his speech. He will pursue his master's degree in public administration.

No word when his resignation will be official, but Mayor Betsy Price said Burns' resignation will have to be effective earlier than this summer so that his replacement can be elected on the May ballot.

A clip of Burns' resignation speech will be posted on his YouTube channel after the meeting.